At North Star Mall in San Antonio, a small green passenger travels inside a floating pod made of groceries. From several steps away, the figure is immediately recognizable as Grogu, the wide-eyed child from The Mandalorian. Move closer, however, and the construction materials become clear.
The entire sculpture is made from cans of food—5,000 of them.
Created by a team from RVK Architecture, the sculpture is called “CANdalorian.” Its round pod is built in bands of blue, white, and silver cans, while carefully arranged green labels form Grogu’s face and ears.
The design earned this year’s Best Original Design award. That seems fair. Getting 5,000 cans to resemble a floating spacecraft requires more planning than most trips to the grocery store.
CANdalorian is one of seven sculptures created for Canstruction, an annual competition benefiting the San Antonio Food Bank. Teams of architects, engineers, builders and students turn ordinary canned goods into enormous works of temporary art. Altogether, this year’s teams used roughly 30,000 cans.
The competition is now in its 19th year in San Antonio. The sculptures are displayed inside the mall, where visitors can inspect the designs and vote for their favorite. Awards recognize creativity, structural ingenuity, label use, and even the nutritional value of the food incorporated into each entry.
However, no matter which sculpture wins, they all receive the same final assignment. They come apart. Once the exhibition ends, the sculptures will be carefully dismantled and the food donated to the San Antonio Food Bank, which serves communities across 29 counties in Southwest Texas.
Over the years, San Antonio’s Canstruction competition has contributed more than 600,000 pounds of food. Most architecture is judged by how long it lasts. These teams build with a different understanding of success.
The little green passenger is not supposed to remain in his pod forever. The cans forming his face, ears, and spacecraft will eventually be separated, sorted, and carried away. That will not mean the sculpture failed.
It will mean 5,000 cans have reached their real destination—not a galaxy far away, but pantry shelves and dinner tables throughout the community.